Last Wednesday E and I had another day out. We picked a town that we hadn't visited before in the North Cotswolds. Thankfully we didn't get lost as the route is quite straightforward M42, A429 and B4035 and additionally E has a satellite navigation on her phone!
Chipping Campden, a small market town, has buildings in that lovely honey coloured Cotswold stone, that date from the 14th to 17th centuries. In the Middle Ages the town was a rich wool trading centre and the church of St James is one of the Cotswold "wool churches". In the early 20th century the town was a centre for the Cotswolds Arts and Craft Movement.
There were lots of interesting independent shops.
The rather impressive Market Hall was built in 1627 by Sir Baptist Hicks later Baron Hicks of Ilmington and Viscount Compton. It was bought from the Noel family for the National Trust in 1942 and has since been re-roofed in a traditional way.
Sorry about the parked cars in the the photos - often a problem in many picturesque towns and villages although as I had arrived by car I can really hardly complain!
The doorway to the Old Grammar School is interesting. Inscribed are the words "Scholae grammatica 1487 JF" and also some interesting symbols. I have tried to find out more information on the symbols without much success apart from the idea that they may be related to people connected with the school or with learning.
I fell in love with this bee carved above the door.
You can see the church of St James in the distance.
A 1690 sundial spotted by my daughter.
E has a Fiat 500 so she was thrilled to spot this old one.
As the pubs and tearooms all looked rather expensive, after I had had a quick look round St James (I will do a separate post on the church), we went in search of somewhere to eat.
With the help of E checking out local pubs and using the satellite navigation on her phone we drove past several villages - in Ebrington was a pub which was apparently The Times UK Number 1 village pub some years ago but we surmised this might be as expensive as those in the town and so continued on our way. We made a detour to a pub called The Plough but it was closed and then arrived in Ilmington
at The Howard Arms which had stopped serving food! a real shame as on the specials board was a cauliflower soup which sounded rather tasty!
In the end we drove to Shipston on Stour which we have visited before and which has a lot of tearooms and pubs and ordered some food at
The George (by now it was late afternoon!!)
A bee on my half pint beer glass :) and I had
Tomato Soup which really was very good.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera
Another lovely town, the buildings and the brick work have a lovely look to them, I suspect the wool trade was good money back then for the mill owners.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a market hall like that not far from here, pleased it is sill there, and the marking round the door do look interesting.
Glad you found somewhere to eat, you will have to pack some sandwiches next time :) saves trying to find a place to eat.
Look forward to next post on your outing.
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much. Again the Cotswolds are very photogenic apart from people and cars! I think the wool trade in the Middle Ages did make some people rich including mill owners.
ReplyDeleteThe market hall reminded me of ones I have seen in Herefordshire.
Good idea about sandwiches - when on holiday we always take them and I used to for days out when children were younger. Problem is now grown up they do like their pub or tearoom lunches and my daughter was paying on this occasion :)
Sorted out the photos on St James (sadly only had 20 minutes in church) and will do post in a day or so then one on that superb church yesterday.
A town I have never been to so it was lovely to see it through your photographs
ReplyDeleteMargaret Adamson - Thanks so much and I am glad you enjoyed :)
ReplyDeleteChipping Campden is a lovely little town. I haven't been there for ages. I love the market hall and the symbols around the school door. Also the details of the buildings like the bee over the door, the house names, balcony and the sundial. Love the alleyway too. Glad you finally got some lunch, like the bee on your glass and the soup looks delicious. I still have a flowery, soft cotton shawl I bought in a little shop in the town, must be about 30 years ago! Where does time go?:)
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely, it's always interesting to see the little details on the buildings in your posts, I wonder how many people miss things like that!?
ReplyDeleteWe drive past the signpost to there when we go to auction at Wotton-under-Edge. Must take a detour in the summer.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and what a beautiful town it is. I think Tetbury has a similar market hall (yup, just checked it) and of course, Ledbury has one not too dissimilar.
Sorry you had to wait so long for lunch, but it looked good when you finally got your soup.
Rosie - Thanks so much. I think the last time I went there was as a child with my parents! It is nice there and if you look closely there is a lot to see. I treated myself to one of those bee glasses - you can buy them direct from the brewery :) Lovely to know you have a shawl you bought there - items bought on holiday or days out can bring back so many memories. I have no idea where the time goes - the older you get the more the days, weeks, months, years whizz by! :(
ReplyDeletePam - Thanks so much. A lot of people miss tiny details I think - to be honest years ago I would have missed them - I think it is only since I got back into photography and certainly since the bridge camera that I have started to spot them :)
Bovey Belle - Thanks so much. It is worth a visit but be warned even in February (although it was a lovely day!) it had a lot of visitors!
Thanks for details re: other market halls - I will check them out on google. Ledbury is on my radar to visit one day. In fact, I once fell in love with a house for sale there but on reflection it would have been no good for the children and their jobs :(
The soup really was good - I make my own tomato soup but that one was divine and I would love to have the recipe.
We stopped off for lunch in Chipping Campden a few years ago when we were on our way for a weekend in Oxford.
ReplyDeleteIt is a delightful town with wonderful architecture. I have checked to see which tea room we had lunch in but I did not make a note of the name. It might not be there anymore.
CherryPie - Thank you. I could only see one tearoom there although I can't remember the name either! As my daughter had offered to pay I didn't want to pick somewhere expensive.
ReplyDeleteI could pack a lunch but I want to try what's in the pubs. Your soup looks very tasty.
ReplyDeleteChris Rohrer - Thanks so much. English pub lunches can be delicious and you must try some of the local beers :) You cannot beat an English pub! Tearooms over here are nice too and some are SO quaint :)
ReplyDeleteThey sound amazing. PS. I forgot to mention how much I love your Dr. Who colored sweater on your bear:) It's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteChris Rohrer - Thanks - I hadn't thought of Timothy's jumper in connection with Dr Who but you are so right :) I have a Tom Baker scarf which I knitted myself and I made one for my son :)
ReplyDelete